Migraines...

djdaze · April 2011

who gets em?

anyone use/used Midrin? (or epidrin or any of the generics)?

The_Hook_Up · April 2011

I have had migraines for about 20 years, although they have decreased in frequency over the last 5 years or so. I only had one in 2010. When I was getting them weekly a while back, midrin did work pretty well, it didn't get rid of them but it did dull them considerably, to the point of being able to function normally.

HarveyCanal · April 2011

I used to get them bad, but learned that if I stay hydrated at all times and make sure to take the time to chill out (read: breathing exercises) when I start feeling everyday stress really getting to me that they can be avoided. In those cases when I do feel one coming on, I stop whatever I'm doing, head home, drink a bunch of water, smoke some weed, maybe take a codeine pill, and then SLEEP until I wake up with no symptoms.

Each person is different though. Whatever you find works for you, good luck fighting those buggers off.

Controller_7 · April 2011

Rocking one at the moment. It's lovely.

I take the generic lucky's brand migraine medicine and it works pretty good. I took two yesterday at work and it went away and then it came back last night. Woke up at 4, feeling like shit. Couldn't take more medicine because it was still within 24 hours of the last two and I'm not trying to blow out my liver.

Migraine medicine is basically ibuprofen, aspirin, and caffeine. It's actually a lower dose of ibuprofen than you'd get in a regular ibuprofen but it's got the combo of aspirin and caffeien which seems to really help. Caffeine is like a relaxer or something, it just loosens up your mind and eases some of the pressure.

Harvey's right. I would say all of mine can e traced back to a combo of being dehydrated and tired. Unfortunately the migraines make ne really nauseous and it makes it hard to drink water.

billbradley · April 2011

My Mom has had horrible migraines for years. She started taking Feverfew after someone recommended it and now she hardly gets them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feverfew

The_Hook_Up · April 2011

I found that my sleep paterns were instrumental in my having migraines. It seemed that got them if I had too little or too much sleep. The last few years I have been able to regularly get between 6 to 8 hours a night...more than that or less than that it seems to trigger them.

The_Hook_Up · April 2011

I found that my sleep paterns were instrumental in my having migraines. It seemed tGottIEr got them if I had too little or too much sleep. The last few years I have been able to regularly get between 6 to 8 hours a night...more than that or less than that it seems to trigger them.

DJ_Enki · April 2011

I haven't had one in years (knock on wood), but I found that sealing myself away in a room that was as dark and as silent as possible was the only thing that helped them. I didn't hear about the supposed relieving effects of caffeine until recently, so I've never tried that out, but other folks I know who get migraines swear by it.

onetet · April 2011

I get them. They are the worst.

I used to get them every night I was in a loud, smokey place -- which means from age 15-25, I sometimes got them as much as 5 nights a week. There was, and maybe still is, a daily preventative herb sold in health-food stores called "Migrafew" (which I believe contained feverfew and a few others in the blend) that, once I started taking it daily, took me from multiple migraines a week to maybe once a month. Sometime in my late 20s I stopped buying the herb, and the migraines stayed at that manageable frequency.

Now they come more like a few times a year, but there's some cruelty in the timing: I tend to get them dependably just *after* periods of stress (like right after public speaking, funerals, etc). I can usually tell when one's going to flare up within an hour or so. If I take an Excedrin Migraine within a few minutes of that realization, that usually prevents it, but sometimes I miss the signs.

Deegreez · April 2011

billbradley said:
My Mom has had horrible migraines for years. She started taking Feverfew after someone recommended it and now she hardly gets them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feverfew

Feverfew saved my life, I never get them any longer. But. I also do other preventative things.
Plenty of water all day. Never soda, rarely juice unless it's fresh squeezed stuff but no bottled stuff.
One coffee only, not 2 or 3.
Very low sugar diet, minimal wheat intake, keeping serving of bread and pasta low to occasional, the gluten is a trigger.
Frequent breaks from looking at screens all day.
3x week exercise.
Adequate sleep.
No weed, no blow.
My wife giving me neck massages. This helps because the migraines would start with neck stiffness and creep up my skull.

CinisterCee · April 2011

Deegreez said:
billbradley said:
My Mom has had horrible migraines for years. She started taking Feverfew after someone recommended it and now she hardly gets them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feverfew

Feverfew saved my life, I never get them any longer. But. I also do other preventative things.
Plenty of water all day. Never soda, rarely juice unless it's fresh squeezed stuff but no bottled stuff.
One coffee only, not 2 or 3.
Very low sugar diet, minimal wheat intake, keeping serving of bread and pasta low to occasional, the gluten is a trigger.
Frequent breaks from looking at screens all day.
3x week exercise.
Adequate sleep.
No weed, no blow.
My wife giving me neck massages. This helps because the migraines would start with neck stiffness and creep up my skull.

I get them weekly and have an expensive prescription.

What's the idea behind no bottled juice?

I am definitely getting neck massages too when tension builds in my upper back and refers to the back of my head.

I'm checking out Feverfew.

cookbook · April 2011

my wife used to get them multiple times a week, peeked during her latter half of college, coupled with 30+ hours a week at work. she had imitrex to knock them down once they showed up (she would have to take one, and nap in an extremely dark room, to totally resolve), but the DR finally put her on a daily (i think it is some sort of blood pressure med) and she NEVER gets them any more. i think it is a combo of a much calmer lifestyle, plus the dailies. she has the imitrex on reserve, but hasn't popped one in months.

i feel for all of you that still suffer from this.

thanks for the Feverfew tip, it will get passed along.

djdaze · April 2011

I was asking about the Midrin thing because it and all the generic versions of it got pulled by the FDA recently so it's pretty much nonexistant. I had like 6 pills left of epidrin and called to get my refill and was told that the FDA pulled it off the shelf...yikes. Scared the hell out of me because nothing else really works that well for me.

But I found a compounding pharmacy in Mississippi that will basically make it for you out of the 3 basic ingredients. I'm paying for it today and I should have it by Tues or Wed of next week so if anyone really relies on Midrin I'll let you know if it's legit.

My Dr suggested I take riboflavin daily, haven't filled my scrip yet but I'll do that next week too.

UMAD · April 2011

I use Maxalt. It stops em dead as long as you take it as soon as you feel the onset of the headache. Hydration, stress, waiting too late in the day to eat def all are big factors for me.

nzshadow · April 2011

I have struggled with them for twenty years now. I am in good shape now and I find this is the best prevention of all, just being physically fit, healthy and strong. One of my big triggers is light. It sounds strange but there is a certain light that just sets them off for me. A grey overcast day but vey bright. Down under we call them shark days because a lot of shark attacks happen on these grey days, but for me its the migraines.

Mine start with auras then a psychedelic liquid visual of dancing rainbow light refracts over my field of vision. By that time i know im in for the long haul, politely excuse myself from wherever i am and have to hit my dark silent bedroom within 1/2 an hour.

By the time im home the psychedelics have given way to a pulsing growing blind spot that overpowers my senses and can bring on waves of overpowering nausea. Then the pain kicks in.

Ialso experience a sort of hangover where the shadow of the pain hangs around for a day and if i sneeze, cough or strain, the stabbing pain in my head can cause me to blackout.

Nothing i have ever taken has helped.

I have found that hydration is extremely important, if i feel one coming (i sense it in my teeth, they begin to tingle) then I drink as much water as I can, to the verge of vomiting. that sometimes works.

Other known triggers are:

red wine
cheese
tobacco
peanuts
MSG

Sunglasses are a must. Orgasms can help with the pain too. Really.

If i had one tip it would be drink a lot of water and stay fit.

Deegreez · April 2011

CinisterCee said:
Deegreez said:
billbradley said:
My Mom has had horrible migraines for years. She started taking Feverfew after someone recommended it and now she hardly gets them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feverfew

Feverfew saved my life, I never get them any longer. But. I also do other preventative things.
Plenty of water all day. Never soda, rarely juice unless it's fresh squeezed stuff but no bottled stuff.
One coffee only, not 2 or 3.
Very low sugar diet, minimal wheat intake, keeping serving of bread and pasta low to occasional, the gluten is a trigger.
Frequent breaks from looking at screens all day.
3x week exercise.
Adequate sleep.
No weed, no blow.
My wife giving me neck massages. This helps because the migraines would start with neck stiffness and creep up my skull.

What's the idea behind no bottled juice?

The idea is to reduce high sugar and also preservatives. This is based on what I have been told about the role of inflammation in blood vessels in triggering migraines. Blood vessel spasm is a component in migraine.
Any insult to the blood vessels can make them inflame and that can easily be caused by irritants, chemicals and preservatives, and homocysteines in red meat. So I avoid processed food which isn't a bad thing for the rest of me too and I have a lot more energy.

Hotsauce84 · April 2011

Excedrin Migraine works for me about 75% of the time. I haven't had a real bad one in quite a couple years but when I would get them I would be in so much pain I'd feel suicidal. No joke.

I have a history of brain aneurysms in my family so years ago my mom forced me to get an MRI. Everything checked out okay fortunately. At that same time, I was prescribed something for them. I can't remember what it was but the side effects were drowsiness and nausea. Kinda silly considering migraines make me nauseous and I can't do anything but lay down in a dark, quiet room.

Hotsauce84 · April 2011

Re: orgasms, this is true. I actually mentioned something about blowjobs but then deleted it for fear of sounding crude. And don't fake a migraine in order to get one. That's just rude.

Daze: To clarify, I mean getting them as opposed to giving them.

djdaze · April 2011

Herm that nausea thing is exacly why I won't take any of the other migraine meds...I think their called Tryptans. But yeah one of the worst side effects of my migraines is nausea so why the hell would I want to take a pill that's gonna make me even more nauseous? effin ridiculous

My wife gets crazy ones called complicated migraines. If they happen on the left side of her brain she forgets words and names and stuff for a few hours, it scared the hell out of me the first time it happened because I thought she was having a stroke. Last time it happened a couple days ago she tried to text me that she was losing the feeling in her hand but her texts went like this

I list my fan

wheelbarrow

emergency room

Hotsauce84 · April 2011

djdaze said:

I list my fan

wheelbarrow

emergency room

San Franciso

Harvey!

Rishan · April 2011

i get them also, but they are self inflicted since they are due to dietary requirements. i'm allergic to milk/lactose and when i'm not careful it builds up in the system for a few days. then comes the migraines until they are so painful i pass out for a few hours. then i wake up, straight away vomit my guts out, and feel fresh as a daisy again. obviously i try to cut out milk/lactose from my diet completely, but it's virtually impossible the way some foods are manufactured now. chocolate breaks me every time. everything else i can easily live without.

nzshadow · April 2011

Rishan said:
i get them also, but they are self inflicted since they are due to dietary requirements. i'm allergic to milk/lactose and when i'm not careful it builds up in the system for a few days. then comes the migraines until they are so painful i pass out for a few hours. then i wake up, straight away vomit my guts out, and feel fresh as a daisy again. obviously i try to cut out milk/lactose from my diet completely, but it's virtually impossible the way some foods are manufactured now. chocolate breaks me every time. everything else i can easily live without.

Holy shit.

I'm sure you know this already but i learned of it recently and was blown away:

Coconut ice cream.

Take a can of coconut milk, pour into ice cream maker or shallow tupperware container. Add sugar to taste.
Freeze. (if you are doing it sans ice cream maker, youll need to rake the semi frozen crystals with a fork after an hour or so).

Serve with fresh mango slices and a sprig of mint.

Fucking delicious and 100% dairy free.

CinisterCee · April 2011

Why didn't I ever think of freezing that shit? Brilliant.

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Migraines...

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